Truth or Dare, baby?
by CSIslave
Summary: Junior graduation seems to fade quickly to senior graduation, and along with the change from High School to adult life, some other changes are happening that no one can really believe...


A/N: Okay, so I was stranded and bored at my dad's house, and this random story came out, so tell me what you think! I'm kind of stuck, now, so any ideas, or should I end it here? Thanks!

Anything related to High School Musical doesn't belong to me... sigh

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**Truth or Dare**

**By CSIslave**

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Sharpay smiled at all the streamers and balloons that covered her school. It was junior graduation; Sharpay and all the people she had grown up with were about to become seniors. She smiled at everyone, relaxing a little. No one cared right now if she acted the way she always did, so she let down her guard. Suddenly, in the middle of the crowd, she saw Troy kissing Gabriella softly. She pulled away, her eyes laughing, and walked down the hall. He clung to her hand until she was too far, then let it drop. Sharpay watched all this with a pang of jealousy in her stomach. She had loved Troy for more than five years. She began to cry as she realized that after one more short year, she may never see Troy Bolton again. With tears pouring down her face, Sharpay stood outside the school, hidden in a shadow. Everyone had passed her by, and she stayed there until Troy exited the school. He immediately looked over towards her, his eyes suddenly wide. She thought he was looking at her, until she turned and saw Gabriella behind her, kissing another boy fiercely. Troy let a strangled gasp out, and Gabriella looked up, licking her lips. She looked shocked for a moment, but then her eyes became cold and harsh. 

"Troy, we need to talk."

"Save it, Gabriella," he managed, stumbling away into the night. Sharpay stepped out of the shadows, watching him go. She looked over at Gabriella, who had resumed kissing the other boy, and had never felt so much hate in her heart for one person. She hurried after Troy, who was almost invisible in the night.

"Troy! Troy, slow down!" He whirled, his cheeks shining with tears.

"Wh-what do you want, Sharpay?" His voice shook.

"Please, stop Troy. You shouldn't be alone right now." He laughed bitterly.

"Alone? I've never been more alone, anyway. No one needs me now. Chad has Taylor, and Gabriella quite obviously doesn't need me, or want me anymore. What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"I need you, Troy." He looked at her, suspicious. Her voice had never sounded so soft or vulnerable. This wasn't the Sharpay who had lusted after him since sixth grade; this was something entirely different. "Can we just talk?" He nodded, not trusting himself with words at that moment, and allowed himself to be led to one of the picnic benches.

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Troy held Sharpay's hand gently as she poured her soul out to him. She talked for an hour, the moonlight illuminating her face; he could see her eyes were worried and sad. Troy would occasionally have to reach out to wipe away a tear as she went on. He felt guilty at all the pain he had caused her. Just as she seemed to be winding down, Sharpay exploded with tears. Shocked, he held her close to his chest, rocking gently back and forth.

"God, I'm so sorry, Troy. I just feel like this is all my fault… I'm such a bad person, and you could never love someone like me, but I just can't live without you… I can't, I can't, I can't…" Troy hadn't said anything while she had been talking, but now his voice flowed over the sound of Sharpay's sobs.

"You're anything but a bad person, Sharpay. I'm sorry I never even gave you a chance… I should have been the one to look past all the stuff at school, you know? I've always thought I was pretty understanding, but I've been stupid when it comes to you." He sighed, thinking. Why not give Sharpay a chance? Everyone deserved to be in love once… Troy had thought he was in love, but maybe not… maybe this was it. "Sharpay, how would you like to go to breakfast with me in the morning?" Her sobs stopped abruptly. She looked up at him, her eyes shining and confused.

"Troy… what? Are you… are you serious?" A small smile darted across her lips.

"I'm serious. And no, before you ask, you're not 'the rebound girl'. I mean... Gabriella doesn't matter. She has nothing to do with us. Don't ever worry about that. Shar, I'm going to treat you the way you've deserved to be treated these last five years. Will you give me a chance to make up for being an idiot?" She nodded, speechless. Suddenly, she smiled.

"Shar… I like that. Shar. No one's ever really had a nickname for me before." He smiled a little, and leaned close to her. She held up one hand, though, stopping him from kissing her by spreading her palm out on his chest. "I don't want you to rush into this, Troy. I want you to be sure you're 100 over Gabriella before you do anything else… it will only hurt you more if you're not… all right?" Troy shook his head, frustrated.

"Sharpay, I want to give you what you've wanted for a long time." She laughed gently, taking his hand in hers and gently kissing his fingertips.

"You think I've loved you for five years to get a kiss out of you? No, Troy. I don't want your kisses... I want your love. Right now, I'm just happy I'm finally getting the chance to earn that." In the darkness, Troy pulled her close to his chest, and Sharpay pressed her cheek to the warmth of his skin. Troy's heart was racing… Gabriella seemed dead to him - she'd seemed dead two hours ago when he'd seen her with the other guy - but he wanted everything to be perfect for Sharpay. If she wanted him to wait for kisses, he would wait. She'd waited for him for five years; he could wait for her as long as she liked.

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**ONE YEAR LATER**

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Troy gently touched Sharpay's hand behind the circle. No one knew that they had been dating for about a year now, and they intended to keep it that way. Of course, for them, the year had seemed to fly by; a flurry of passionate kisses and long nights together holding each other close. They were at a graduation party; Gabriella, Ryan, Kelsi, Jason, Chad and Taylor made up the rest of the circle. Gabriella and Ryan were just friends, although everyone thought they should get together. Kelsi and Jason had been dating for about a year as well, and Chad and Taylor were together, for now at least. They seemed to break up every other week, but for whatever reasons, they always were back together by the end of the day.

Sharpay smiled over at Troy. It seemed like ages ago that she had confronted him about her feelings. Troy had completely forgiven Gabriella, which just made Sharpay love him even more. She'd become a much calmer, accepting person in her last year of high school. Everyone who had idolized her from a distance before wanted to be her friend, and all the guys who had joked about her being pretty on the outside because she was ugly on the inside wanted to be with her night and day. Troy, however, had held that position since that night in the park. Sharpay, of course, always told them she just wasn't interested, and truthfully, she wasn't. Some would probably assume that after gaining a prize lusted after for that amount of time, it would seem worth less, but Sharpay loved Troy more every second she was around him.

Gabriella smiled around the circle, then rose, a bottle of beer in her hand. _Trust Gabriella to be the one drinking,_ Sharpay thought bitterly. Troy may have forgiven her, but she never would completely.

"I propose a game," she slurred, giggling. "Truth or Dare." Everyone laughed at the suggestion, but before they could really put a word in, Gabriella began. "Sharpay! Truth or dare?"

"Dare," she laughed nervously. She had always hated this game.

"I dare you to go to Rite Aide, buy a pregnancy test and then take it in the bathroom." Sharpay blinked.

"Is that supposed to be hard?"

"Hard, no, embarrassing, yes," put in Taylor. Sharpay stood.

"Fine! Who's coming with?" Everyone stood. She laughed and walked out the door, her blonde hair bouncing behind her. Everyone followed chatting together. Sharpay shivered in the wind, and then Troy stepped forward and draped his arm around her shoulder. She smiled at him, snuggling close to his chest.

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Sharpay thrust the test at the clerk, who rang it up with a bored expression. Taking it back once she had paid, she marched into the bathroom, followed by Kelsi, Taylor and Gabriella. The boys hung around outside.

"Isn't Sharpay single?" Chad asked.

"Last I head," Jason said, staring at the candy aisle. Troy said nothing. Chad and Jason looked at Ryan, who shrugged.

"All I know is that Sharpay has seemed happier for a while now."

"Then what the heck is the point of taking the test, if she's single?" Jason laughed, not paying attention. He walked like a zombie towards the candy, followed by a laughing Chad. Ryan rolled his eyes, plopping down next to the magazines and grabbing a book. Troy stayed behind, staring at the door.

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"Hurry up, Sharpay! I want to get back!" Taylor pounded on the bathroom door. Sharpay didn't say anything… her eyes were glued to the strip. _Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…_

"Sharpay, what's taking so…" Gabriella had hoisted herself up over the stall, and followed Sharpay's gaze to the pregnancy test. "Oh my god." Sharpay looked up at her, her eyes shiny. Gabriella lowered herself slowly, and then knocked softly on the stall door. Sharpay flung it open, falling into Gabriella's arms.

"False reading, it has to be a false reading…" Gabriella hurried out of the stall, leaving Sharpay on the toilet, shaking.

Troy looked up as Gabriella darted out of the bathroom.

"What's wrong, Gabby?" She didn't answer, just ran down an aisle, bought something, and ran back into the bathroom. Troy's eyes followed her, and his heart pounded fiercely.

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Sharpay stared and stared, but nothing in the world could change it; both tests showed a little pink line. She rested her head in her hands, her head throbbing and heart pounding. Gabriella had ushered Kelsi and Taylor out to wait with the boys, and she anxiously leaned against the outside of the stall. Sharpay slowly unlocked it, smiling tearfully at Gabriella.

"Well… I guess I'm pregnant."

"Oh god, Sharpay…" she didn't know whether to be sorry or happy. Sharpay stared at the ground, her eyes wide.

"Does anybody else know?" Gabriella shook her head furiously.

"Whose is it?" Sharpay couldn't answer. She slumped to the ground, her legs weak. Gabriella immediately sat down next to her. "Its Troy's isn't it?" Sharpay looked up, shocked.

"How did you know?" Gabriella laughed gently.

"The little smiles, the way you guys are always laughing when you're together… little stuff like that. No one else knows, I don't think. Just me."

"We only did it once… we were so careful…"

"How long ago was that?"

"Five months." It came out a whisper, and Gabriella almost gasped. She would have never thought that it would have happened that long ago.

"But…"

"I still feel normal… and I thought I'd just been gaining weight because I've been so hungry… I didn't even think there might be a reason for that." Lifting herself from the floor, she stood and stared at her profile in the mirror. She spread her hands out on her stomach, touching it as if it were as fragile as a robin's egg.

"Are you going to keep it, Sharpay?"

"Yes." It was a whisper… but then Sharpay looked down at her stomach, her eyes burning. "Yes." Much louder, stronger. Then her eyes filled with tears, her resolve crumbling. "But I want Troy to be okay with it, too. I can't have his child if he doesn't want me to."

"I probably know the answer to this, but are you sure it's his?" Sharpay nodded.

"He was the only one." Gabriella hugged her softly, and just like that, Sharpay couldn't be angry with Gabriella anymore, not even a tiny bit. She smiled at Gabriella, her stomach (which now seemed so large… how had she missed it?), and finally her own pale reflection in the mirror.

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Gabriella exited the bathroom, smiling. Troy stood quickly, jumping towards the entrance to the bathroom.

"What's wrong with Shar? Is she okay?" His voice was desperate. Gabriella stepped aside.

"Go on in." He didn't need to be asked twice; he darted in, letting the door slam behind him.

Sharpay was standing in the middle of the room, beaming. He rushed to her, hugging her tightly and covering the top of her head with kisses.

"Oh god, Shar, you scared the shit out of me! Are you okay? What's going on?" He stared down into her sparking brown eyes; he had never seen her feel so many things at once. Everything was twirling in those eyes; fear, joy, shock, anticipation… Troy stepped back.

"Troy… were you still planning on taking a few years break before you went to college?" He nodded, his eyes wide.

"Why, Shar?" She hesitated. "You can tell me anything, Shar, anything in the world."

"I'm pregnant, Troy. About five months."

She expected shock, tears, yelling… but not the huge grin that spread across Troy's face.

"Are you sure, Shar? Are you 100 sure?" She nodded, confused by his reaction. He just smiled, then laughed with disbelief. "We're gonna have a _baby?_" She nodded again, smiling through her tears. Troy brought his hands to his mouth, tears coming to his eyes. "We're going to have a baby, Shar, a baby!" He held her close, hugging her more tightly than he ever had, then released her quickly. "Oh wow… should you be standing? Here, sit down." He led her to the toilet, setting her gently on the seat. He held her face in his hands, kissing her again and again. Suddenly, fear crossed his features. "You do want to keep it, right Shar?" She nodded. "Are you sure it's mine?" She shoved his shoulder gently.

"Oh, Troy, you know you were the first and only." He nodded, smiling again.

"Yeah, yeah… god, Shar, I'm sorry… I don't know what to think." He sat down next to her, his head resting on her stomach, listening. "A _baby…_" he whispered again. She smiled down at him.

"So you want to keep it?" He looked up at her, his eyes shining.

"Oh Shar, are you kidding? This is the second best thing that's ever happened to me." She looked at him, puzzled.

"And the first?"

"You." He nuzzled her nose with his, his hand resting gently on her stomach. She put her hand over his, and together they sat, the cheap fluorescent light flickering above them. Everything felt right.

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They all walked back together; well, everyone but Sharpay walked. Troy was carrying her in his arms, much to her embarrassment. No one else questioned it, assuming they were just kidding around. They soon got back to their party, all of them exhausted. Taylor and Chad cuddled up together on the couch, almost immediately falling asleep. Ryan took a chair, and Gabriella the floor next to him. Kelsi and Jason went to a different room. After half an hour, the only people who remained awake were Troy and Sharpay. They sat together on a window seat, Troy's hands wrapped gently around her stomach, her leaning against his chest.

"We should go to the hospital and getting it checked out," He whispered softly into her ear, tucking a long strand of hair behind her ear. She smiled, staring at the bright stars out the window.

"I know. Tomorrow?" She felt him nod behind her, and she closed her eyes contently. "I love you, Troy." It wasn't the first time she had said it, but now it held so much more meaning.

"And I love you with all my heart, Shar." They fell asleep like that, holding each other close.

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End it? Continue it? The choice is yours! thanks for reading 


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